Mike Liut
| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario | career_start = 1977 | career_end = 1992 | draft = 56th overall | draft_year = 1976 | draft_team = St. Louis Blues | wha_draft = 50th overall | wha_draft_year = 1976 | wha_draft_team = New England Whalers | image = Mike Liut.gif | image_size = 200px }} Mike Liut (born January 7, 1956, in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional goaltender. Mike played in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1992. During this time, he played for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, and St. Louis Blues. Mike also played two years with the World Hockey Association's Cincinnati Stingers. Mike won the 1981 Lester B. Pearson Award for being the most valuable player according to the his fellow players, and posted the league's best goals-against average in 1989–90. Playing career Liut played college hockey at Bowling Green State University. After being named twice to the CCHA First All-Star team, Liut was selected 56th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 1976 but instead opted to play for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA for two seasons. When the WHA went under and merged with the NHL in 1979, the Blues reclaimed Liut's rights. Liut was outstanding in his debut with St. Louis. His first two seasons saw him pile up 71 victories. In 1980–81, he was voted a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy; he was selected as a First Team All-Star and won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the league's MVP as determined by his peers. That fall, he was Canada's starting goaltender at the 1981 Canada Cup, which ended with a disappointing 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final. In 1985, Liut was traded to the Hartford Whalers where, in his second season, he led the NHL in shutouts with four. In that same season, Liut backstopped the Whalers into the Wales Conference semifinals, where they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in OT of the 7th game in a memorable playoff series. The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. In 1986–87, Liut led the Whalers to their first and only Adams Division Title and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team. He also posted the league's best goals-against average with the Whalers in 1989–90. He was traded to the Washington Capitals in 1990, but had difficulty maintaining his workhorse status because of a failing back, an ailment that led to his retirement in 1991–92. Following his playing career, Liut joined the University of Michigan as an assistant coach in 1995–96 until the end of the 1997–98 season. He now works as a sports agent, representing NHL players including Ryan Malone. Liut is a second cousin of former NHL player Ron Francis. Career statistics Regular season External links * Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com * Profile at legends of hockey.net * Profile at hockeydb.com Category:Born in 1956 Category:Hartford Whalers players Category:Lester Pearson Award winners Category:St. Louis Blues players Category:Washington Capitals players Category:NHL All-Stars